Senator: Hire illegals, pay the price

If this proposed bill passes in the NJ Senate, how many Hoboken business do you think would be in big trouble, if any? Is this as much of a problem for New Jersey compared to the southwestern states?

Senator vows to target NJ businesses hiring illegal immigrants

A New Jersey Senate leader said he will push legislation to punish businesses who knowingly hiring illegal immigrants.

Senate Majority Leader Stephen Sweeney said his decision comes after a federal judge upheld an Arizona law that prohibits businesses from knowingly hiring illegal immigrants and yanks the business licenses of those that do.

“Companies that knowingly hire illegals are destroying job opportunities for the working men and women of New Jersey,” said Sweeney, D-Gloucester. “The practice has to be stopped.”

The Immigration and Naturalization Service in 2003 estimated that New Jersey had 221,000 illegal immigrants, though the Federation for American Immigration Reform, which favors tighter border security and immigration laws, estimates the state has 490,000.

New Jersey has about 8.7 million residents and 4.1 million workers.

Under Sweeney’s measure, which he said he will introduce next week, first-time offenders would have their business licenses suspended for 10 days.

Continue reading after the jump.

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Second offenses would bring permanent revocations, Sweeney said.

In approved, the law would take effect at the end of the year and require employers to verify the legal status of their work forces.

“New Jersey should welcome legal immigrants with open arms, but we need to put up a stop sign for illegals who undermine family, educational and health care support systems,” Sweeney said.

The proposal worries businesses, said Jim Leonard, a vice president with the New Jersey Chamber of Commerce.

“We feel immigration is an issue best handled on the federal level,” Leonard said. “Creating a patchwork of laws on this issue throughout the nation makes it even more difficult to run a business.”

John Rogers, a vice president with the New Jersey Business & Industry Association, said employers are prohibited from asking certain information about an employee’s background while hiring and are legally required to take Social Security cards that appear valid.

“I fear that another New Jersey-only bill will unfairly ask the employer community to shoulder increased liability and be responsible for what is a national problem,” Rogers said.

On Feb. 8, a federal judge in Arizona dismissed a lawsuit filed by business groups against Arizona’s law, which was approved last year by the Republican-led Legislature and Democratic Gov. Janet Napolitano.

Arizona business groups argued the law unconstitutionally infringed on federal immigration powers, but the judge ruled there was no conflict because states regulate business licensing.

The Arizona law took effect Jan. 1. An Oklahoma law with similar provisions takes effect for private employers in July.

Earlier rulings on similar measures have been mixed.

In July, a federal judge struck down a Hazleton, Pa., ordinance that would deny business permits for companies that employ illegal immigrants, but another judge upheld a similar measure in Valley Park, Mo., earlier this month.

bazztrap–Sorry to say but if an employer wants to bring in a skilled worker using an H1-B or L-1 visa, there is no law that says they first have to look for an American worker. In fact, companies have in the past laid off American workers and replaced them with visa holders. They even tell the Americans that they have to train their replacements if they want to receive their severance pay. Last year, a law firm in Pittsburgh put 20 hours of video on YouTube explaining how to go about avoiding hiring an American so that a company can bring in a visa holder. When word got out about it, the law firm quickly pulled it and said that they were “misunderstood”. Yeah, right. The only one in the Senate that was concerned enough to look into it was Senator Grassley. Sad to say, our elected officials aren’t looking out for the American worker…

[quote comment=”68906″]hobofromm, you miss one key point; if someone comes from Ireland into the US and overstays their visa WE KNOW THEY ARE HERE AND THEY CAME THRU CUSTOMS! you see the difference right? they come from a country with modern medical screening and vaccinations. they have a passport. they would show up on a “wanted list” if they were wanted for murder anywhere. you can kinda see the difference right? a little different than hiding in a cargo container coming from china or sneaking across the desert in the dark carrying drugs. a little different right?[/quote]

What’s the difference for the irish that have told me personally that they snuck into this country illegally and they have friends who also did the same? Where’s the passport, med screening for these people???

[quote comment=”68906″]hobofromm, you miss one key point; if someone comes from Ireland into the US and overstays their visa WE KNOW THEY ARE HERE AND THEY CAME THRU CUSTOMS! you see the difference right? they come from a country with modern medical screening and vaccinations. they have a passport. they would show up on a “wanted list” if they were wanted for murder anywhere. you can kinda see the difference right? a little different than hiding in a cargo container coming from china or sneaking across the desert in the dark carrying drugs. a little different right?[/quote]

What’s the difference for the irish that have told me personally that they snuck into this country illegally and they have friends who also did the same? Where’s the passport, med screening for these people???